You’ve probably noticed that I stopped posting the Getting Fit series. Around a month and a half ago, I went out for a run along the East River, hoping to cure some terrible stomach pains. I was finally running 3.5-4 miles pretty consistently, and I was somewhat enjoying myself, too. I noticed a strange pain in my left hip, building and building with each step. About two miles into it, I had to stop; the pain was killer.
I was two miles from home, with no money for a cab or MetroCard for the subway. The pain in my hip was so strong that I had to limp. My stomach pain was still going strong. Feeling hopeless, I held back tears the entire walk home, being passed by all the effortless runners as I limped along. I stopped running that night.
Unfortunately, I had already signed up for a 5K. As The Color Run approached, I considered getting back out there, but I just didn’t have the heart. I huge part of me was just too tired (whoever told me the second year of teaching was easier than the first was LYING), but another part of me just feared getting out there and feeling the pain again, and having to then accept that the ONLY CURE I have found for my stomach was lost.
I didn’t train. I told Allison that she would just have to run it alone while I walked in the back, like a loser. However, when I woke up that morning, and put on all that gear, I had a change of heart. I would just try to run, and I would see how it went.
After putting on all my Color Run gear, I sent an affectionate text to my mom (at 5:51 am her time, mwahaha).
Allison and I made our long journey to Flatbush for the race. We were pretty pumped. 🙂
We started near the beginning, in the second or third wave of runners. Having a checkpoint at every kilometer was a lifesaver. Knowing that if I just ran a little farther, I would be doused in color and one kilometer closer to the end, saved me. I told myself shortly after we started that I wanted to make it to the third kilometer (pink!) before stopping, but when I got there, I just couldn’t stop. The determination was there. My hip wasn’t bothering me yet (it is now, but whatever). AND I WANTED MORE COLORS. NOW.
Thanks to Allison’s encouragement, I made it. All five kilometers. Without stopping once. Although many expletives were used. 😉
The festival at the end was the perfect finale to the event.
And then I hobbled home and did laundry. 🙂 Lots of it.
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